March 18, 2023

Ohio State in Fourth at NCAA Championships

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 COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sammy Sasso earned his fourth All-American honor as an Ohio State Buckeye – the ninth four-time honoree in school history – and will compete for a national championship at 149 pounds Saturday evening at the 2023 NCAA wrestling championships, taking place in Tulsa, Okla.

Sasso stayed perfect at these national championships with a 2-1 decision over No. 7 Yahya Thomas of Northwestern in the quarterfinals, and then he rolled in the semifinals, scoring a 14-2 major decision over No. 3 Kyle Parko of Arizona State. He will meet No. 1 seed Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell for the championship.

Sasso leads a contingent of five Buckeye All-Americans in 2023. Kaleb Romero and Ethan Smith each earned their third All-America accolades with Jesse Mendez and Dylan D’Emilio also achieving the honor.

Ohio State is currently in fourth place in the team standings with 62.5 points. Penn State (109.5), Iowa (77) and Cornell (64) are ahead of the Buckeyes with Missouri (55) in fifth.

Thursday & Friday Results

133 | (14) Jesse Mendez

Round 1 – Jesse Mendez opened his day with a 12-4 major decision over Navy’s Brendan Ferretti. He scored a pair of takedowns in the first period to lead 4-2 after one and would push the lead to 7-2 after two. Following two more takedowns and riding time in the third, Mendez had a solid opening victory.

Round 2 – In his second round match, Mendez met fourth-seeded Michael McGee of Arizona State. Neither wrestler scored in the opening period and McGee would take a 5-1 lead after two following an escape and a pair of takedowns. In the third, Mendez got the early escape but was unable to get a takedown and would end up falling 6-2.

Consolation Round 2 – Mendez took on No. 19 seed Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) and won by fall with 21 seconds remaining in the second period. He was leading, 5-0, at the time. Mendez had a takedown at :38 of the first period and an escape in the second before the.

Consolation Round 3 – Mendez wins his second match of the day by decision over No. 11 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan), 1-1, on ride out time.

Consolation Round 4 – Mendez wins his third match of the day with an ultimate tie-breaker victory over No. 10 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) and garners All-America honors. Mendez scored on an escape in the second period and Byrd tied it with an escape in the third. Mendez won it in the third OT.

Consolation Round 5 – Mendez advances to the consolation semifinals with a tie-breaker win over No. 6 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech), 2-1.

141 | (17) Dylan D’Emilio

Round 1 – Dylan D’Emilio started his day the same way Mendez did, with a 10-1 major decision over Navy’s Josh Koderhandt. Neither wrestler scored in the first period and D’Emilio would only lead 3-0 after the second. But a takedown and a four-point near fall gave the Buckeye a 9-1 advantage and the riding time point would provide the final margin.

Round 2 – D’Emilio took on Iowa’s top-seeded Real Woods. Woods had two takedowns in the opening period and held a 4-2 lead after the first. D’Emilio then had an escape to start the second and a quick takedown to grab a 5-4 lead. The score was even at 5-5 at the start of the third and after an early escape by Woods, D’Emilio appeared to have a late takedown that would have won the match. After a review, no takedown was awarded, and Woods would win the match 7-5 after earning the riding point.

Consolation Round 2 – D’Emilio registered a dominant, major decision victory over No. 15 seed Tom Crook (Virginia Tech), 10-0, to advance in the consolation rounds. D’Emilio had a takedown in the first, an escape and takedown in the second period and then dominated the third with a takedown, a two-point near fall and the riding time point.

Consolation Round 3 – In the first of three Friday matches vs. Wolerines, D’Emilio decisioned (23) Cole Mattin (Michigan), 6-2 to move on in the round. In a back-and-forth match, Mattin took the lead in the second period off an escape with D’Emilio regaining the lead with at takedown. Another Mattin escape made it 2-all heading into the third period, and the period belonged to D’Emilio, who went on to victory with an escape, takedown and the riding time point.

Consolation Round 4 – D’Emilio earns All-America status with a victory over No. 3 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) in the rideout tie-breaker, 2-1. D’Emilio scored off an escape in the second; Matthews did the same in the third. Neither wrestler scored in the sudden victory period. D’Emilio escaped quickly in the first rideout period and would hold on to win the match in the second.

Consolation Round 5 – D’Emilio falls in an 8-2 decision to No. 10 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) and will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday.

149 | (2) Sammy Sasso
Round 1 – Sammy Sasso made it three major decisions to start the day for the Buckeyes as he dominated Anthony White of Rutgers 10-2. He had a pair of takedowns and an escape to lead 5-0 after two periods and would add two more takedowns in the third to win 10-2.

Round 2 – In the second round, Sasso took on No. 15 seed Colin Realbuto of Northern Iowa. The Buckeye captain had a pair of takedowns in the first and led 5-1 headed to the second. Each wrestler scored escape points at the start of the next two periods and Sasso would add another takedown and a riding point to avenge an earlier regular season loss with a 9-2 victory.

Quarterfinals – Sasso edged No. 7 seed Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) by decision, 2-1, with a riding time point to become a four-time All-American. Neither wrestler scored in the first period with Sasso getting his escape point in the second period and Thomas securing his late in the third period.

Semifinals – Sasso was absolutely dominant in registering a 14-2 major decision victory over No. 3 Kyle Parko (Arizona State) that propels him into the national championship match Saturday against No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell). Against Parko, Sasso led 4-1 after the first period with two takedowns. He extended the lead to 7-1 in the second period and then powered his way to a 7-1 third period behind a four-point near fall, a takedown and riding time.

157 | (28) Paddy Gallagher

Round 1 – Paddy Gallagher had a nice battled with Lehigh’s Josh Humphreys in his opening bout of the day. Neither wrestler got on the board in the first and Humphreys would only score an escape point in the second. Gallagher chose neutral to start the third and was unable to score the winning takedown as he would eventually fall 3-0.

Consolation Round 1 – Gallagher took on Andrew Clark of Rutgers in his second match on Thursday. Not a ton of scoring as each wrestler managed just one escape point through three periods. Gallagher got a big takedown to earn the 3-1 sudden victory win.

Consolation Round 2 – Gallagher was dominant vs. No. 22 seed Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa), winning a 17-9 major decision match that featured seven takedowns by Gallagher. An escape and three takedowns staked Gallagher to a 7-4 lead in the first period. He extended the lead to 10-4 in the second and then added three more takedowns plus picked up the riding time point for his second win at these NCAA championship.

Consolation Round 3 – Gallagher’s first NCAA championships ends with a defeat to No. 20 Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) by decision, 4-3. Gallagher led, 2-1, after the first period with a takedown and built the lead to 3-1 early in the second period with an escape. Swensen tied it at 3-3 with a takedown late in the second period and won it with an escape in the third, the only points of the period.

 

165 | (10) Carson Kharchla

Round 1 – Carson Kharchla started his championship against friend and drill partner Connor Brady of Virginia Tech. After a scoreless first period, Brady scored an escape point in the second to take a 1-0 lead after two. In the third, Kharchla had a big reversal to take a 2-1 lead and would hold that advantage the rest of the way for the narrow 2-1 victory.

Round 2 – Kharchla would punch his ticket to the quarterfinals with a terrific 8-3 victory over No. 10 seed Michael Caliendo III of North Dakota State. A pair of takedowns and an escape would have Kharchla in front 5-2 heading to the third period. Caliendo earned the escape point to start the third but another big takedown from Kharchla would secure him the 8-3 victory.

Quarterfinals – Karchla went up against No. 2 seed Keegan O`Toole (Missouri) and he would not advance to the semifinals as O’Toole scored a 19-4 tech fall victory.

Consolation Round 4 – Karchla dropped a 2-1 decision vs. No.  12 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) to end his championships. Olejnik scored off an escape in the second; Karchla scored off an escape in the third, but Olejnik earned the riding time point and the victory.

174 | (6) Ethan Smith

Round 1 – Ethan Smith won by decision over Stanford’s Tyler Eischens, 6-5, to improve to 20-6 on the season. Smith scored on a takedown in the first period, but trailed 3-2. He came back in the second with an escape and a takedown to take a 5-4 lead and then won it in the third by virtue of riding time and allowing only an Eischens escape.

Round 2 – Ethan was opposite Iowa’s Nelson Brands in the second round. Brands got a takedown in the first period and they would trade escape points for a 3-1 lead early in the third. Smith battled in the final period but was unable to get the tying takedown and would fall 3-1.

Consolation Round 2 – Smith built a 6-1 lead over No. 21 Lennox Wolak (Colorado) and cruised from there for a 14-3 major decision victory.  An escape, takedown, 2-point near fall and another takedown extended the lead to 13-2 heading into the third.

Consolation Round 3 – Smith won his second match of the day and the 99th of his career, a 7-3 decision over No. 19 Troy Fisher (Northwestern). Smith never trailed, leading 2-0 after the first period with a takedown and 4-2 after the second with another takedown vs. two escapes by Fisher. An escape and a takedown extended the lead to 7-2 and Fisher could only manage an escape the rest of the way.

Consolation Round 4 – Smith earned All-America honors and his 100th career victory by virtue of a 7-6 decision over No. 8 Bailee O’Reilly. Each wrestler had a takedown and an escape in a 3-all first period. O’Reilly took a one-point lead with an escape in the second period, 4-3. In the third, Smith took a 5-4 lead with a reversal only to have O’Reilly tie it with an escape. Smith ultimately won the match with a takedown with just a minute remaining in the period.

Consolation Round 5 – Smith falls in an 8-4 decision to No. 5 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) and will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday.

184 | (6) Kaleb Romero

Round 1 – Kaleb Romero won his opening round match by major decision, 10-2, over Caleb Hopkins. Two takedowns in the first period staked him to a 4-1 lead that grew to 7-2 after the second with an escape and a takedown. He matched that with another escape and takedown in the third to move on with the win.

Round 2 – Romero set the tone early in his match with Missouri’s Colton Hawks, recording two first-period takedowns. He led 4-2 after the opening period and just two escapes were scored in the final two periods, sending Romero on to the quarterfinals with a 5-3 victory.

Quarterfinals – Romero was defeated by No. 3 seed Aaron Brooks (Penn State), 4-1 by decision. Neither wrestler scored in the first period and Brooks went up, 3-0, in the second period off an escape and then a takedown with just 17 seconds remaining in the period. Romero scored off an escape in the third period but Brooks added a penalty point and held on for the win.

Consolation Round 4 – Romero was outstanding with a 15-6 major decision victory over No. 25 Brian Bonino (Drexel) and he earned All-America honors in the process. Four takedowns – two in the first; two in the second – staked Romero to an 8-4 lead that he quickly extended to 11-4 in the first 30 seconds of the third period. He would add a penalty point, a takedown and riding time to reach his final total.

Consolation Round 5 – Romer0 won over No. 11 Gavin Kane (North Carolina) by major decision, 11-3, and will wrestle Saturday in the consolation semifinals.

 

197 | (26) Gavin Hoffman

Round 1 – Gavin Hoffman lost to Tanner Sloan, from South Dakota State, by decision, 8-1. Sloan scored on a takedown in the first period and a reverse and a takedown in the second to build a 6-1 lead with Hoffman scoring on an escape. Hoffman added riding time and a penalty point in the third.

Consolation Round 1 – Hoffman stayed alive with a convincing 10-4 victory over Luke Stout of Princeton. Three takedowns in the first period staked Hoffman to a 6-3 lead. Stout cut the lead to 6-4 with an escape but Hoffman dominated the third period to win 10-4.

Consolation Round 2 – No. 9 seed Max Dean (Penn State) eliminated Hoffman from the championships with a 6-0 decision. Dean used an escape and a takedown in the second period to build a 3-0 lead and then added a takedown and riding time in the third to move on with the win.

 

HWT | (16) Tate Orndorff

Round 1 – Campbell’s Taye Ghadiali recorded a takedown at 1:30 of sudden victory-one to defeat Tate Orndorff, 3-1, in round one. Orndorff scored an escape in the second period and Ghadiali tied the score at 1-all with an escape in the third, setting up the sudden victory period.

Consolation Round 1 – Orndorff rebounded with a solid 6-3 victory over Minnesota’s Garrett Joles. An early takedown gave Orndorff a 2-1 lead after the first period. He then added an escape and another takedown in the second to lead 5-1. In the third, he survived a takedown by Joles but would also earn the riding point to claim a 6-3 victory.

Consolation Round 2 – Orndorff advances with a 4-1 decision over No. 32 seed Grady Griess (Navy). Orndorff had a first period takedown to lead, 2-1, after one. He added an escape in the second period and then earned the riding time point for the 4-1 victory.

Consolation Round 3 – Orndorff won his second match of the day, this time over No. 7 Owen Trephan (North Carolina State) in a tiebreaker, 2-1, with the riding time point in the third overtime. Escape points for both wrestlers came in the second period for Orndorff and the third for Trephan.

Consolation Round 4 – Orndorff, seeking his fourth consecutive victory at these NCAA championships, fell to No. 5 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) by decision, 2-1. Schultz scored off an escape and a penalty point in the second period and Orndorff was only able to secure a single escape point in the third.

 

#GoBucks

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